Right my drunk friend fell into the snow with my bag on with my nikon in side in the box and it is not turning on I'm in the home now there is condensation on the lens what do I do? :/ I just got it
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user15672Jan 19 '13 at 0:00

7 Answers
7

Condensation is the biggest risk, and prevention is always better than cure. One thing I do prior to entering such environments is to place a lens cloth over the front element, and heat it with the heat from my hand prior to entry -- the target is to get the front element above the dew point for the area you're going into.

With the specific case of the Eden Project, the trick is to go into the arid Mediterranean house first where the humidity is lower than the rainforest house (but the temperatures are generally similar).

If anything, I'd suggest SLR (and bridge) cameras are easier to remove condensation from the lens (but it would take longer to warm through). It would be a "very bad idea" to change a lens inside an area with elevated humidity, as humid air could then condense all over the place.

It is worth remembering that some SLR cameras have professional quality weather sealing

I'm interested in the weather sealing specs of cameras — where did you get this value of 10mm/hr rainfall for the 5Dii? I'm trying to get some more specific details on different bodies/lenses/brands/whatever...
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drfrogsplatDec 13 '10 at 6:50

@drfrogsplat I can't find the source for that right now, so I'll remove for the moment -- the closest reference from canon is that the 5D2 is "EOS 5D Mark II now has dust and water resistance that is almost equal to that of the EOS-1N" in a white paper on the Canon site
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Rowland Shaw♦Dec 13 '10 at 10:09

Honestly this is one area where too many lawyers were probably involved. Nikon for example states 'the camera is sealed against moisture and casual humidity'. That is really not confidence-inspiring. Some manufacturer's used to specify mm of rain per hour but I have seen no such specs for a while. I can vouch though that I have rinsed a Pentax K-7 with DA* lens under tap water for two minutes or so without problems.
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ItaiDec 13 '10 at 16:41

Use Desiccant Packets Desiccant packets are often found in new product shipments to absorb moisture. As I can, I save these packets
to reuse in my camera bag when traveling. If you’re not the saving
type it is possible to order new desiccant packets online. While its
impossible for these packets to absorb all the moisture in a camera
bag that you’re in and out of often, they can make a difference on
segments of trips where a camera bag is not opened or opened
infrequently.

Minimize Lens Changes In an ideal world having one lens per camera body would the best solution for high humidity environments. In this
situation you’d have one lens on your camera body the entire length of
your trip so that humid air never enters your camera. Few people
outside of the professional circle have this luxury, so it is
important to minimze the number of times you change lenses when in the
field.

Keep Moisture Out of the Camera Body If keeping one lens on your camera is not possible think about keeping a teleconverter /
tele-extender on your camera body at all times ensuring that no
moisture enters your body when changing lenses. Teleconverters /
tele-extenders are often used with longer focal length lenses and
seldom with other shorter focal length lenses. If you’re shooting wide
this tactic may not be very practical.

Change Lenses At Night If Tip #2 or #3 is not a possibility reduce the introduction of moisture into your camera body by changing lenses
when atmospheric moisture is at its lowest point. This happens when
the temperature is coolest often late at night or early in the
morning.

Avoid Fogged Lenses Keep your camera gear at the same temperature as the ambient temperature of your shooting environment to avoid
fogging. Fog can appear on the front of your lens and in less than
ideal cases on the rear element of your lens if your gear is cold and
brought into a warm and moist environment. If keeping your gear with
you is a necessity (such as being brought into an air conditioned
hotel room as opposed to being left in a car) wait for your camera
gear to warm up before use.

Regularly Wipe Down Your Equipment The most common ways moisture accumulates on ones gear is from high atmospheric humidity, rain or
your own breath as you use your camera. Regularly wipe down your gear
in order to minimize long standing moisture on your camera that might
seep into unsealed openings of your camera body. Keeping on hand and
using a super absorbent camp hand towel can help a great deal.

Keep Sensitive Equipment in Ziploc Bags While not perfect, keeping sensitive equipment in Ziploc bags can also reduce the negative
effects of high humidity. Ziploc bags do wear out if opened and closed
often, so this tactic might be best for equipment that is used less
frequently. Combining the use of desiccant packets and Ziploc bags
could be a great hybrid approach.

Carry Multiple Lens Cloth Even with the best of planning fogged lenses happen. If you’re in the field for an extended time lens
clothes quickly become damp. For this reason its a great idea to have
multiple lens clothes on hand, using one while the other dries out in
the sun

Don’t Let Your dSLR Slip From Your Grip Use a wrist or neck strap to keep slick cameras from working loose of your grip. In hot and
humid environments the human body will release a great deal of
moisture in the form of sweat. With sweaty hands it will be very easy
to accidentily drop a lens, camera body or camera body with a lens on
it.

Dry Your Hands Dry your hands before changing batteries and CF cards. This will minimize introduction of moisture, inside the camera,
that might later condense upon returning home. Keep in mind this will
be particularly true the sweatier you are.

I've used my Olympus E1 -elderly perhaps, but beautifully made - which is weathersealed and still has the best anti-dust system ever devised. This camera plus my pro, weathersealed 14-54 zoom, has survived the most extreme humidity and still works like a dream. (as did my previous, pre-digital camera, the Canon F1-n; sadly the canon optics did suffer from the humidity, unlike my Zuiko lens, which not only out performs the Canon optics, but has lived to tell the tale!!

No doubt Canon and Nikon worshippers, will be fondling their well hyped treasures, and weighing up the risks to their very expensive 'status symbol' neckgear, before venturing into the rain forests.

I've a friend who took his E1 on a transatlantic sailing trip. He claimed that thing got soaked, rained on, sprayed, and generally took all sorts of abuse on that trip, and yet it performed without a hitch, kept on truckin' and works to this very day without issue! :)
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MikeJan 23 '12 at 17:47

3

While I appreciate the tale, and I like non-Canon/Nikon as much as anyone, this doesn't really answer the question of what precautions to take, given that "find a used Olympus E1!" isn't a reasonable option in general.
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mattdmJan 25 '12 at 1:20

This may only be a Isolated problem, however I shoot a lot of sea scape shots. The house is of course air conditioned. When the camera and equipment is moved from the house to the area where I am going to shoot I find that condensation will built up in the equipment. This cost me a great deal to repair after a spotting issue developed on the inside lens and view finder. Avoid drastic changes in temperatures and moisture contents in the air where possible. Even if the equipment is "Weather Sealed" or not. Condensation develops behind the weather sealing rendering the seals useless. Best bet is a secure place that is well ventilated and out of the sun and the air temperature are ambient. The answer for me, was a unused bathroom that had a window in it, that I could raise an allow the outside air in. I stored the equipment there without having a problem with condensation build up when the equipment was transported to be used at the shoot location. Sounds a bit far fetched but having the condensation spots in the photos was a real let down, and cost me a bundle to have repaired, nearly wiping out a expensive lens.

Most lenses aren't perfectly sealed which means you can get moisture on the internal glass elements as well as the front and this can take a while to clear, leading to mould forming which is very bad. You're unlikely to damage a lens if this happens occaisonally but it's just better to avoid condensation in the first place.

Condensation occurs when moving from a cold area into an area with warm moist air as the cold lens elements cool the air causing moisture to precipitate out. As stated previously, good practice is to put the camera and lens in a sealed plastic bag before moving from the cold area. This traps dry air around the lens and gives the glass time to warm up. Do not seal the camera in a plastic bag when moving from a warm area into the cold! As the warm moist air inside the bag will start to condense as the camera cools.

Just because warm air can hold more moisture doesn't mean it will always be more humid, so there will be times when this is uncessesary, however it never hurts to be cautious. Also note that if you are in an extremely cold climate it can take a long time (hours) for all the camera internals to heat up again.

In general rapid extreme temperature changes are bad for equipment as they cause expansion and contraction of materials and can cause brittle components to break. For this reason I generally leave gear in a bag when moving around if possible as this will slow down heat transfers to safe levels. Also black camera bodies can heat up very quickly if left in direct sunlight (this is supposedly why the Canon super teles are white) so that's another reason to use a good bag.

Batteries can suffer in cold climates however these affects are usually reversible when the temperature goes back up. It's a good idea to keep batteries in an inside pocket when shooting in the cold.